Clarity Financial LLC Sells 1,940 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Clarity Financial LLC reduced its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,431 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,940 shares during the period. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.44.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $152.09 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $168.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $366.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $147.61 and its 200 day moving average is $156.13.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.